A non-governmental organisation, Action Health Incorporated, with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and in collaboration with the Osun State government, has sensitised the Osun community on the need to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) in the state.
The NGO, in an interactive session held with leaders and stakeholders from five communities (Olorunsogo, Ibiyemi, Tanimola, Ayeloja, and Railway Communities) in Ede North Local Government Area of the state, enlightened the community members on the dangers of mutilating a girl child and engaged them to identify strategies for promoting FGM abandonment in their communities.
In a statement made available to our reporter on Saturday by the representative of the organisation, Fatimah Idris, the NGO stated that the programme, which started on Wednesday, ended on Saturday.
“Four LGAs where FGM exists have been selected for this project, and they are Ede North, Egbedore, Orolu, and Osogbo. From each of these LGAs, five communities were further selected for the abandonment of this harmful practice.”
According to her, “The programme is to educate the traditional rulers, community leaders, religious leaders, and other key stakeholders on the adverse effects of female genital mutilation and garner their support in identifying strategies to promote FGM abandonment in these selected communities.”.
“We are having our first dialogue meeting with the five selected communities in Ede North today and will proceed to organise for the Egbedore, Orolu, and Osogbo local governments on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, respectively. What we do is enlighten the community on the dangers of female genital mutilation and the need for them to eradicate the practice. They also bring their contributions to the issue.”
The statement further said that the organisation’s campaign on FGM has received positive responses, resulting in a massive reduction of FGM cases in the state.
“Our campaigns have been yielding positive results. We have been receiving success stories from past participants in the programme on how they have been able to protect and rescue female babies in their communities from FGM that would have been performed on them by their parents. Our trained surveillance team and Anti-FGM Champions have also actively changed the minds of parents about the harmful practice through their door-to-door sensitization.
“Also, records have shown that the issue of female genital mutilation has decreased in Osun State. So, there has been a great impact,” the statement added.
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